NRC Extends Comment Period for Nuclear Waste Dump

Due to COVID-19 pandemic concerns, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has extended the 60-day public comment period on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for a controversial nuclear waste dump in New Mexico. Initially scheduled to close May 22, 2020, the comment period for the Lea County Consolidated Interim Storage Facility (CISF), proposed by Holtec International, has been extended by an additional 60 days.  

Why is this important?  Moving high-level radioactive nuclear reactor waste (spent fuel) from nuclear power plants all across the country to consolidated waste-storage facilities simply takes the radiation danger from reactor communities and dumps it on waste communities. In the process, waste communities–which often are economically-depressed and communities of color–are forced to weigh short-term economic gain against long-term health and safety. In addition, transporting irradiated spent fuel across the country to such facilities introduces significant risk to hundreds of other communities and in some instances requires waste to be trucked through sacred Indian lands. Extending the comment period allows more residents of affected communities to voice their opposition to the Holtec CIFS.

Nuclear watchdog organizations insist that the safest solution for the spent fuel now stored in pools and casks at nuclear power plants (and produced as plants continue to operate) is hardened on-site storage (HOOS). The Holtec CIFSs – dubbed HI-STORE – would be an expensive and risky step backward in managing existing and future nuclear waste in the United States.

The NRC comment period extension came after the entire New Mexico congressional delegation asked the NRC to both delay the public meetings on the Holtec facility and extend the DEIS comment period until after public meetings eventually take place. “Any proposal to store commercial spent nuclear fuel raises a number of health, safety, and environmental issues, including potential impacts on local agriculture and industry, issues related to the transportation of nuclear waste, and disproportionate impacts on Native American communities,” the legislators stated in their request.

The NRC intends to present staff findings on the Holtec CIFS and receive public comment through a webinar and five public meetings in New Mexico. Although the NRC has not agreed to delay the five public meetings, the NRC did state that it will reevaluate the current plans for engaging the public and further extend the comment period if deemed necessary.

Download the Draft Environmental Impact Statement:

Environmental Impact Statement for the Holtec International’s License Application for a Consolidated Interim Storage Facility for Spent Nuclear Fuel and High Level Waste: Draft Report for Comment

Comments on the Holtec nuclear waste dump can be submitted to the NRC through the following: Federal Rulemaking Web Site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov/ and search for Docket ID NRC-2018-0052. Address questions about NRC docket IDs to Jennifer Borges; telephone: 301-287-9127; e-mail: Jennifer.Borges@nrc.gov.

In addition to Holtec’s New Mexico facility, Interim Storage Partners (ISP)/Waste Control Specialists (WCS)/Orano USA and NAC International have proposed a consolidated high-level nuclear waste facility for a site in Andrews County, Texas, on the New Mexico border, where WCS currently operates a low-level radioactive waste and hazardous material treatment and disposal facility for nuclear power and weapons.

Both Holtec and ISP/WSP/Orano/NAC wish to have liability and ownership of the waste for their proposed high-level nuclear waste facilities shifted from nuclear-power companies to the Department of Energy – that is, to US taxpayers.

Dan Edson is a resident of Newburyport, Massachusetts, and a member of the C-10 Advisory Board.